A new set of revisions to the admissions process for Jefferson Parish's advanced academies would reduce long tests for first and second graders, reopen an application window for students who narrowly missed the test score cutoff and invite students newly arrived in the parish to a round of summer testing. The School Board will consider the policies at a meeting Wednesday.

One of those attempts to cut subjectivity led to first and second graders taking three-hour, paper-and-pencil admissions tests instead of face-to-face, verbal tests with teachers. Parents complained about the exhausting tests, and educators found them difficult to manage.

The Jeremiah Group, a community organizing entity, protested problems with Jefferson Parish's advanced academy admissions process during the 2010-11 school year.

We had a range of behaviors and aptitudes within one testing site," said Richard Carpenter, chief academic officer. The task of settling rooms full of young children for written tests contributed to their duration, Carpenter said.

Instead, he and other administrators are proposing 30-minute, one-on-one tests similar to what the system uses for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students. To combat inconsistencies that might result from individual teachers' varying styles, the testers will undergo extensive training and testing monitors will oversee the sessions, Carpenter said.

Another complaint officials hear is that students newly relocated to the parish often miss the chance to apply for the top-rated, accelerated schools. The new policy would create a two-week application period for them in June for the schools and grade levels that still have open seats.

"We're not serving that portion of the population who may have missed it," Carpenter said.

And in the last two years, the schools have finished the admissions process only to find that some spots remained unfilled, always in later grades after some student turnover, seldom in the early grades where waiting lists prevail.

Last year the system relaxed the admissions standards to fill the seats. This year it gave a second chance to students who fell within ten points shy of passing the admissions tests.

Carpenter said more than half of the students who re-tested won admission. The new policy would make that approach permanent, establishing retesting alongside the testing for students new to the district. The summer testing is the only additional cost of the changes, officials said, at about $2,500.

"We increase our odds of filling in more vacancies," by adding the chances for the newcomers and students who barely missed qualifying the first time, Carpenter said.

In addition to the major overhaul that first applied in 2011-12 and the last-minute adjustments to fill seats in the last two school years, the system also amended the overall admissions policy applying to this school year, addressing the sometimes emotional topic of siblings being able to attend the same academies.

That time the board bumped siblings higher on the priority list for transfers between academies but stopped short of satisfying parents' calls for sibling relationships to be factored into initial admissions.

Since the earlier controversies, however, Carpenter said the schools are receiving fewer complaints about the admissions protocols.

The latest changes will go into force during applications for 2012-13 if the board passes them. Carpenter said he thinks the system is close to reaching a balance on all the factors that go into advanced academy admissions and might not need to make as many changes going forward. But educators won't rule out making more changes as needs arise, he said.

"I think it's a living document," Carpenter said. "We're trying to keep an open mind."

The board meets at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the school system's administration building, 501 Manhattan Boulevard, in Harvey.